A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from November 14, 2019
“Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice”

A popular children’s rhyme is:
 
“Ladies and gentlemen
Take my advice,
Pull down your pants
And slide on the ice.”

 
The rhyme contains the word “ice” and is often told in the winter, and in northern cities (such as New York City). The authorship of the rhyme is unknown. It was included in the book The Doctor Has a Family (1950) by Evelyn Werner Barkins. American comedy writer, singer and song parodist Allan Sherman (1924-1973) included it with the children’s rhymes in his song “Turn Back the Clock” (1967).
   
The American war comedy-drama television series M*A*S*H had the character Major Sidney Freedman (played by actor Allan Arbus, 1918-2013) use this line in 1974 and 1976, and the line was also used on the last show in 1983.
   
         
IMDb (The Internet Movie Database)
M*A*S*H (TV Series)
Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen (1983)
Trivia

Alan Alda, who wrote the episode, made sure to include Sidney Freedman’s trademark exit as his last line in the series: “Ladies and gentleman, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.” It was originally spoken by Sidney in the Season 3 episode “O.R.” (1974), and again in Season 5 episode M*A*S*H: Dear Sigmund (1976). After actor Allan Arbus died, Alda tweeted the same line in memoriam.
         
Google Books
The Doctor Has a Family
By Evelyn Werner Barkins
New York, NY: Pellegrini & Cudahy
1950
Pg. 66:
Sure, she replied, and as I settled back joyously to listen to a juvenile version of something at least as classic as Shelley’s “West Wind,” Lizzie recited:
 
“Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice,
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.”
   
Amazon.com
The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren
By Iona Opie and Peter Opie
Oxford, UK: The Clarendon Press
1960
Pg. 97:
Ladies and gentlemen
Take my advice,
Pull down your pants
And slide on the ice.
 
Google Books
Bean Spasms
By Ted Berrigan and Ron Padgett
New York, NY: Kulchur Press
1967
Pg. 186:
Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice; pull down your panties and slide on the ice.
 
Newspapers.com
29 December 1967, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), “Kids’ Culture Hasn’t Changed” by Jack Smith, pg. A10, col. 3:
Or, “Ladies and gentlemen/ take my advice/ Pull down your pants/ and slide on the ice.”
     
Google Books
The Rape of the APE (American Puritan Ethic):
The Official History of the Sex Revolution, 1945-1973:
The Obscening of America, an RSVP (redeeming Social Value Pornography) Document

By Allan Sherman
Chicago, IL: Playboy Press
1973
Pg. 12:
Ladies and gentlemen, Take my advice. Pull down your pants And slide on the ice.
 
YouTube
Best lines ever !! MASH PART 1 !!Take My Advice, Pull Down Your Pants And Slide On The Ice!
Jun 28, 2011
katta1007
BEST LINES EVER!!  PART1
MASH-Take My Advice, Pull Down Your Pants And Slide On The Ice!
 
Twitter
Alan Alda
@alanalda
When the world is cold, remember this: “Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.” Sidney Freedman.
6:38 PM · May 11, 2015·Twitter Web Client
 
YouTube
Turn Back the Clock (Schoolyard Playground Rhymes Song)
Apr 18, 2019
Allan Sherman - Topic
Provided to YouTube by DistroKid
Turn Back the Clock (Schoolyard Playground Rhymes Song) · Allan Sherman
Togetherness (1967 album.—ed.)
℗ Curtain Call
Released on: 2019-04-17
0:40
“Ladies and gentlemen
Take my advice
Pull down your pants
And slide on the ice.”

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityTime/Weather • Thursday, November 14, 2019 • Permalink


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